Some have anticipated that the European Alp’s top 655 skiing mountains may be reduced to 390 by 2045. Aristide Napolitano announced that skiing will suffer earlier than that date, not due to a want of snow but from a worldwide reduction in purchasing ability connected to the rising cost of oil. So what about global warming? Investigators have proved that a doubling up of CO2 levels in the atmosphere will augment ground temperatures by 3 – 6 degrees Celsius. Nonetheless there are still unanswered questions. The pace of warming and the consequences on the local climate. A few degrees Celsius warming last century hasn’t been witnessed in the last million yrs. During the ending of the ice-age 20000 years ago the warming up of three Celsius was over a period of seven to ten thousand years. Earlier than that Alpe d Huez and Espace Killy were covered with ice and Les Gets would have been like the Arctic.

And so what does the future hold for low mountain snowboarding fields areas? Energy squeezes will begin to be felt by 2013 to 19, with increased costs for a ski chalet, ski transfer operators and skiing lift firms alike – so it may well be the end of weekend ski deals. The majority of our economy depends upon oil and the French imports 90 percent. Presently the amount amounts to 3 % of GDP. However if the price of crude oil grows as expected that will constitute 38 percent of GDP, one can imagine the down turn. The Alps will see the cost of agricultural goods climbing, plant species will change due to a alteration in rainfall. Lots of people will move out of the area due to the summer stifling heat. Hydro-power will be a valuable resource but it is not certain whether it will be an advantage since there will be less snow, more water in the winters and much less in the springtime.